I have just installed the update to PE8 (originally had PE3), and it has crashed 5 times in the last hr! Very frustrating! I was trying the tweek an old movie I made with PE3, but I do one action & it crashes! I am running Vista, 2GB RAM, and plenty of hard disk space! Help!

You didn't try to open a version 3 project with version 7, did you? That will lead to problems.

Beyond that, ensure that your operating system is up to date (go to Windows Update and manually download even the optional updates), that your video card drivers and Quicktime are up to date, per the FAQs to the right of this forum.

If so, you can go to your Adobe Profile and click on the E-mail Notifications tab. There you can choose which articles you wish to receive e-mail notifications on. I only get my notifications on certain articles that I have posted, from which I hope to receive answers.

You also have the option to turn all e-mail notifications OFF, or filter them to just articles that you initiate. This is a global setting, where the former is more specific to individual threads.

Thanks to all. I will try those tips and see if it helps. I gave up last night, but will spend a few hrs today on it. I wasn't trying to open V3, so that wasn't the problem. However, I have checked & I didn't have the latest version of the apple stuff & there were 11 updates for windows, so hopefully that helps. It was just frustrating cos I used to work on PE3 for hrs with no problems.. you pay bucks to upgrade & it crashes! Will give it a go today & let you know how it goes.

I've had very similar experiences. With a very stable, reasonable powerful computer PE8 crashes all the time. I've set the autosave to 1 minute and try to remember to hit ctrl-s after every single action I take, because I don't think I've actually used for 10 minutes straight without it crashing. No other program on my computer has problems and this machine has not crashed since I first started it up in December of 2007. In fact other Adobe products like Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 work wonderfully. I think that they released PE8 prematurely or perhaps without ever trying to edit AVCHD files. I'm hoping for an update, but I'm also considering asking for a refund.

So, I guess the search will begin again for video editing software. That will certainly teach me to believe PC World's 95/100 review.

My computer is Vista 64, Q6600 (2.4 GHz Core 2 Quad), 8GB of RAM, nVidia 8800GT, 4 disk RAID 5 that does 180MB/s. While I don't expect to run the video stabilization effect in real time, I certainly expect it to play AVCHD video.

Did none of the articles that I linked to help you? Did you use the "Clean, Lean & Mean Editing Machine?" Did you not get any error or warning messages with your system/program crashes, from the "Crash/BSOD Article?" In my experience, programs do not crash, without leaving a trail. I cannot believe that you go zero error, or warning messages. It just does not happen on a PC.

If you have done everything, and nothing works, nor does it yield any error, or warning message, then the only hope is The Case of the Unexplained.Work through everything mentioned in this video. Do not miss a step, and let's hope that something here will help.

This does not bode well. Add/Remove Programs should do the uninstall for you. If it does not/cannot, then it is likely that your installation did not complete for some reason.

I would first manually remove the Apple QuickTime folder structure, and then run a Registry Cleaner, like CCleaner several times, until there are no problems.

Another method would be to go to a System Restore Point, prior to the attempt to install QuickTime. Depending on how often you do System Restore Points, this might be the perfect solution, or you may loose the installation of many programs.

I think that they released PE8 prematurely or perhaps without ever trying to edit AVCHD files. I'm hoping for an update, but I'm also considering asking for a refund.

So, I guess the search will begin again for video editing software. That will certainly teach me to believe PC World's 95/100 review.

UNQTE

I absolutely agree. I wish I could get my $$$ back as well but doubt. Software returns are not covered. I realize now I had rushed too fast getting the PE8 bundle, relying solely on Adobe's reputation. I am leaning towards going back to Cyberlink. Their Powerdirector 7 or 8.0 support AVCHD. Keep us posted as well about what you found out there.

Now, with regards to CODEC "packs," I have to admit that I am not a fan. Some are pretty benign, but many also install all sorts of "stuff," and some of that can really mess up a system, and an NLE in particular. FFDShow, a part of many of these, has been known to kill PrPro. I do not know about PrE, but with the similarities in some of the code, would not be surprised. Also, some of these packs require that one uninstall every single module to clean them out. I strongly suggest that one run a good Registry cleaner, like CCleaner many times, when the uninstall is done.

For CODEC's, I get just what I need, when I need it. I also go to the source, when possible, even if it means that I need to pay, when there is a free version around. Many of the free CODEC's are hacked, or reverse-engineered. There are some exceptions to the "free" CODEC's, like the Lagarith Lossless CODEC.

I am also a user of Premiere Elements and recently bought the latest version.

To address a couple of issues that you guys are facing, well frankly i'd not say that i've not run into problems but there are comfortable workarounds and tweeks that one can do to please himself.

I am mostly into HD editing and understanding the complexities of HD editing, i know that i need a machine with decent horsepower and it NEEDS to be neat. Also while editing, since i want my editing to work, i have been patient with the software and things have worked out quiet well for me.

A couple of things one can do to is:

- Make sure there are no additional processes running into the background and Premiere Elements does get the right CPU power and RAM.

- Stocking up your system with additional RAM really won;t hurt. eh??

- Since i am into HD editing, i do not require much of background rendering. Hence switching off background rendering has helped me with a CPU and RAM optimization.

At the end of the day, i have always got brilliant results with Premiere Elements.

I'm very happy that some of you are having good luck with Adobe Premiere Elements 8, but I am not able to use it to successfully edit AVCHD files produced by a Canon HF200. I tried all of Hunt's thorough and useful suggestions, with no luck. At one point I had 5 different support cases open and Adobe did not solve any of them. In one case, where the Watch Folders feature of the Organizer wouldn't work, it was escalated to their second level support and they never even bothered to respond. I am very dissastisfied with the software and just as dissatistifed with Adobe's support.

I bought this software to edit AVCHD videos, which it promised it could do. On my Core 2 Quad Vista 64 with 8GB of RAM, it couldn't do it. In fact, without waiting for hours of background rendering, it couldn't even play a preview of the video. I would get audio only. This is strange, considering that Pinnacle Studio 14 HD from Avid plays beautiful preview video immediately, in real time, with no stutters, jitters, or any problems at all. (Cyberlink PowerDirector can also play them immediately and in real time, though at a much lower quality than Pinnacle.)

This is probably the lowest quality Adobe software I've used in my 15 years of working with Adobe software. I set the autosave to 5 minutes and tried to remember to hit ctrl-s after every single action, because there was not a single session that Priemiere Elements ran for 10 minutes without crashing. (I cannot remember a time when Photoshop CS3 or SC4 or Lightroom 1 or 2 ever crashed on this same computer.) Any action risked crashing the program.

Like many on this forum, Adobe, blames my computer, which as been running without problems since December of 2007. Other programs, including Adobe's manage to run on my computer without crashing. It is clear to me, that Premiere Elements 8 was not adequately tested with AVCHD video before being released.

Happily, I was able to return this highly unstable software, which can't perform to its advertised features, and get my money back.

I am very dissastisfied with the software and just as dissatistifed with Adobe's support.

Both of these have been far too common sentiments in my book.

It seems that there might be issues with PrE 8, but my "jury" is still out. Now, regarding Adobe support, you are not the first to indicate this as an issue. I can tell you that Adobe is aware of this problem and is working to correct it. Going back some, I used to place Adobe support, both Customer Service and Technical Support near the very top of the software companies. Luckily, I have had to use neither for over a decade. Still, others report that it has declined horribly and this never should have been the case. To go from the top to near the bottom is just not acceptable. Unfortunately, other than telling you that management knows and is working, there is not any secrets that I can share with you. It should be getting better, but who knows when the users will see this improvement?

I bought this software to edit AVCHD videos, which it promised it could do.

AVCHD is tough to handle, but looking at your specs., you should not have this sort of an issue. PrE 7 did just fine for most people, so long as their computers were up to the task, and their computers were tuned up. Not sure what the deal with PrE 8 is. I do not have it, and will probably not likely upgrade, as PrE is but a tool in my toolbox, and I use PrPro for most editing chores, although it's now an older version.

Have you read through ATR's reviews of PrE 8? It seems that there are a ton of new choices and adjustments, than in earlier versions. I wonder if some of these might be able to help you, by either turning some ON, or some OFF. Just wondering.

Pinnacle Studio 14 HD from Avid plays beautiful preview video immediately, in real time, with no stutters, jitters, or any problems at all.

Going back many years, I had Pinnacle Studio 7, 8, 9 and 10. The only useful version was 9.4.3, which I used for some time. It was OK, though a bit clunky IMO. With Studio 10, I was blown away with the problems and S-10.1.1 actually ate my workstation. I rebuilt it, wiped the C:\ and bought PrPro with CS2 Production Studio and never looked back. I have had one crash and that was my doing. I have had zero memory messages, but do have a fast, robust workstation. It has just worked perfectly out of the box. I have not upgraded it because CS3 did not offer me anything that I did not already have, and had some issues. CS4, was a bad deal upon release, so I held off. Now, it appears that Adobe has gotten it right with CS4.1 and CS4.2 is coming soon. Maybe it's time to think about that upgrade? Sorry, but I cannot help you with Pinnacle Studio 14, as 9.4.3 was the last useful version that I had.

This is probably the lowest quality Adobe software I've used in my 15 years of working with Adobe software.

My impressions are built on using PrE 4, but having read every post in this forum, back before the changeover killed most of the old articles. This allowed me to see things all of the way back to about PrE 1.0, with each version introduction along the way. Most user impressions were very good, and most posts were "where did Adobe move ____," of "how do I do ____, in PrE x?" The problems that existed, seemed to be with inadequate equipment, or inadequately maintained equipment - not with a bad release.

Fast forward to PrE 7. Things seemed to be getting derailed a bit. Yes, there were many new formats and CODEC's, so there were plenty of additions for Adobe to work on. Now, PrE 8 seems to be a different animal. It's still new, and there appear to be many changes. It also seems to stress more computers with just its code and its necessary processes, than ever before. Unfortunately, only time will tell. Someone migh look back from PrE 10 and wonder what the hoopla was with PrE 8, and it was finally deemed the "most stable version ever released." Let's go back to an earlier paragraph. I did not upgrade to CS3, because it did not offer me anything I could immediately use, and had issues. Now, on the PrPro forum, one would think that CS3 was made of platinum with diamonds. It is universally praised and many rolled-back to it because of its stability. Yeah, now they think it's stable, but they should have been reading the forum when it was introduced! For me, PrPro 2.0 is 100% stable, and at the time, many reported that CS3 was not. Still, it is now a paradigm of stability. I get a bit of a perverse "kick" out of this, being a student of history. Who knows what the future will hold for PrE 8?

I set the autosave to 5 minutes and tried to remember to hit ctrl-s after every single action, because there was not a single session that Priemiere Elements ran for 10 minutes without crashing.

Back when I started with Pinnacle Studio, there was no AutoSave. Ctrl+S was so common that I almost had the fingers of my left hand shaped to do that easily. It was, make a cut, hit Ctrl+S. Add a Transition, hit Ctrl+S. This continued through S-9.4.3, the most stable version of that program. Have no idea how stable it is now.

Happily, I was able to return this highly unstable software, which can't perform to its advertised features, and get my money back.

Though they dropped the ball on CS & TS, Adobe has held the line on their 30-day, money-back guarantee, and I am glad. Obviously, being a loyal user for decades, I hope that they do not have to honor it too often, but if they do, it should send a very big message to them that they have a problem.

There has just been a patch for PrE 8 released. On the main forum screen, there is a notice at the top - a sticky. I'd follow the instructions that Chad Baker (Adobe Employee) offered, and get PrE 8 updated with this patch.

Here's hoping that the majority of the problems will disappear. There are also some good FAQ Entries, accessed from the main forum screen to the right of the thread list, that tell how to optimize PrE 8 and also the computer.

I also find the tips in this ARTICLE to be useful, when ever I am starting an editing session.

When Chad posted of the patch, it was then available only through the auto-updater. Within days, it should be available on-line for download and installation. This normally takes between 2 - 5 days. Do not know the exact timeline for Adobe, but I feel safe saying that it will soon be up. I also would expect that Chad will report on it, the moment that it is live.

With an update, it's done in two stages: the patch is written to utilize the auto-updater for the actual installation, and then it is re-tooled to include the installation programs. This is what some are waiting for, as it seems that the auto-updater is not picking up on the patch for a few users. Yes, the core code is used in both, but the "packaging" of that code is different.

Watch the top of the main forum page, as I feel confident that Adobe will announce the deliverable patch, when it is done.

You say it's a new machine. This almost certainly means that various drivers are out of date (that's an inherent fault with any new machine that will have been cloned from a 'master' disk.

So, as a minimum, update your sound and graphics drivers from the manufacturers web site. And install the latest version of QuickTime from the Apple site.

Then tell us more about the video footage - what is was imported from and what format is it. This should help: Got a problem? Here's how best to ask for help(you may have to select the announcement from the right hand side of the screen)